Chapter 65 Accidents
Princess Espin chuckled softly at Veronia’s last words. But Jediel’s reaction was different. The child scowled.
“A thief like that deserves to be beaten! What are you worried about? I want to beat him so hard that he breaks his arms and legs.”
Jediel bit his lower lip and balled up his fists. The look of righteousness in his eyes was so cute, Veronia almost giggled, but she held it in. She couldn’t allow herself to laugh in such a serious situation.
“Come to think of it, I think Jediel was right. When we catch the thief, we should kick him so hard he can’t eat for days!”
“We should smash his head in too!”
Espin added at the end, and Veronica and Jediel looked at her in disgust.
“Ms. Espin, I think smashing heads is a bit much, no matter what.”
“I know.”
“Ah…?”
They said she should break his arms and legs, they said she should kick him so hard he couldn’t eat, why not his head?
For a moment, Espin felt nervous, but he decided to hold back. It was a two-on-one situation, and she didn’t think she had a chance to turn the tide.
Then it happened. A scream came from the direction Killion and Onyx had run in pursuit of the thief.
“Aaaah!”
“How dare you!”
“Senator! Senator!”
Veronia’s heart pounded in her throat, wondering if something had happened to Killion or Onyx, had they been hurt? Thump, thump, thump, her heart began to pound furiously.
“You two stay here, I’ll go find out what’s going on.”
Veronia turned to leave Espin and Jediel behind and headed for the crowd. But Jediel grabbed her hand.
“Mum, I’m coming with you, okay?”
“…”
Veronia thought for a moment. Even though Espin would be with her, she didn’t think it was a good idea to leave the child alone in the crowded streets. She nodded.
“Come with me, Princess Espin.”
“Yes.”
Veronia immediately scooped Jediel up in one arm. She didn’t want the child to get hit by the dense crowd.
With her other hand, she took Princess Espin’s hand. As the crowd grew larger, it seemed that Princess Espin needed protection too.
Princess’s Espin looked a little surprised at first, but then she smiled.
“Thank you, Nia.”
“Let’s go.”
With that, the three of them walked through the crowd toward where the screams had come from.
“Oh my God…!”
“What…!”
Veronia and Espin were speechless at the scene before them.
A carriage had fallen on its side, with a man crushed underneath. A groan of pain could be heard.
“Ugh… ugh!”
It was a child’s voice, and next to the carriage, a couple, presumably the child’s parents, were wailing in frustration.
“Please… save our child! Please… save our child! Please… save our child!”
“Please… help us! Huhuhu…!”
A group of people tried to lift the wagon, but it wasn’t easy, and Killion was among them.
Many people lent a helping hand, but they were all contributing different amounts of strength, and it was hard to make any progress. Finally, Killion raised his voice.
“Okay, I’m going to give you a mantra: on the count of one, two, and three, we’re all going to pull together.”
“Got it!”
“Yes!”
The group nodded at Killion’s suggestion. With the tension building, Killion called out.
“One, two… three!”
“Erghh!”
“Eup!”
In unison, the people pushed in response to Killion’s command. The wagon slowly lifted.
“Erghhh!”
“Ugh!”
The people pushed with every last ounce of strength until their faces burned.
The space between the carriage and the ground grew larger and larger, and the onlookers slowly pulled the child out from under the carriage.
“It’s done! He’s out! We got him! We got him!”
There were sighs of relief all around as they realized that they had made it. But the child’s condition was far from reassuring.
His body had been torn open by sharp wood and was bleeding profusely. His legs were particularly bad, both of which were apparently broken.
His sobbing parents clutched him to them and cried out.
“Billy, my dear, open your eyes. Don’t go back to sleep! Billy, please wake up!”
“Huhuhu… my Billy, how do you… huhuhu!”
Just then Killion came to their side.
“We need to get him to the doctor quickly. He’s lost too much blood and it could be dangerous if we delay.”
Veronia shuddered. She wanted to rush over and heal the child, who looked to be Jediel’s age, so her divine powers might work. But…
‘There are too many people watching. I don’t want to be the center of attention. I shouldn’t…’
She hesitated. She had to hide her face, and she couldn’t just blindly step out in front of all these people.
‘And… maybe Caspian is still around.’
Even though she had altered her appearance with the magic stone, she wanted to avoid being seen by him at all costs.
Veronia’s thoughts were short-lived, however, for Jediel, in her arms, whispered in her ear.
“Mum, you can help him, he looks very sick, please take care of him.”
“…Yes.”
With a shallow sigh, Veronia nodded. She couldn’t disappoint her child. To her, she was a mum whose job was to help the world.
‘This healing power comes with Jediel,’ she said, ‘and it’s like… it belongs to him.’
So when Jediel spoke, Veronia had no choice but to follow. Veronia set the child down on the ground.
“Wait here. Mummy, going to go.”
“Yes, bye, Mum. I’ll stay with Ms. Espin.”
Jediel squeezed Princess Espin’s hand and smiled. Princess Espin didn’t know what she was saying, but she took the child’s hand anyway and nodded towards Veronia, telling her not to worry.
Veronia immediately walked over to the fallen child. Killion was about to pick her up when she spoke.
“Your Excellency. I think I can heal the child. May I have a look?”
“…Yes, please.”
Her sudden appearance startled Killion and the child’s parents, but no one stopped her.
Veronia first examined the child’s wounds. His abdomen was badly wounded, not to mention the state of his legs, and he was coughing up blood.
‘He needs to be treated for his internal organs before his legs.’
Veronia concentrated and placed her hands on his stomach, and soon a faint glow began to emanate from her hands, eliciting gasps of “wow!” and “ohhh!” from the onlookers.
“Oh my god, look at that light!”
“Is that… healing with divine power, right?”
“I think so, are you a priestess?”
Soon, a circle of onlookers surrounded the healing scene and wondered about Veronia’s identity. Speculative words were exchanged.
“Her outfit doesn’t suggest it. Priests and priestesses wear white robes.”
“Is it possible to have divine powers without being a priestess?”
“There is such a thing? I’ve never heard of that.”
“No. I think I’ve heard of it before, that sometimes it happens.”
Jaws dropped at the incredible sight.
Even Killion, who was watching Veronia, was stunned. Even with his own eyes, he found it hard to believe.
‘She has divine power? Since when? How is that possible?’
Divine power was a gift from the gods that was only given to priests and priestesses who belonged to the temple.
It didn’t make sense that Veronia, who had never belonged to the Temple, would have divine power. It was something he had never known, even after all the years he had spent by her side as her fiancé.
Veronia, meanwhile, remained silent and focused on gathering divine power in her hands, unconcerned by the stares and chatter around her. His injuries were severe, and he was bleeding profusely, so it took an incredible amount of energy.
“Ugh… ugh!”
A groan still escaped from his mouth, but he was no longer coughing up blood. The healing effects were slowly beginning to take hold. His face, which had been howling in pain, was slowly relaxing.
“Billy! Come on, my baby!”
“Billy… please…!”
His parents stood by his side, clasping their hands together anxiously, watching Veronia’s healing process.
After finishing his abdomen, Veronia’s hands moved to his legs. The sight of the child’s stomach without a single scar drew gasps from the crowd.
“The wound on her stomach is completely healed!”
“That was a terrible wound, and to heal it in such a short time! Isn’t that some kind of divine power?”
“Yes. I don’t think even priests and priestesses can heal this much!”
“Yes. Ten years ago, our neighbour Charles’ brother was badly injured in a carriage accident and went to the temple, but they had to turn him back because his wounds were too deep to be touched, and he died soon after.”
“Oh, I’ve heard that story. It’s a sad one.”
“But who is she, then? Is she really a priestess? Is she… by any chance a saint?”
“Yes, but she’s not dressed like a priest.”
While the onlookers continued to wonder, Veronia’s healing continued. Her hands, radiating a soft glow, slowly stroked the broken leg.
